FDA Approves New
Indication For Merck's Fosamax WASHINGTON, DC, Jun 23, 2000(Reuters) -
The US Food and Drug Administration said on Monday that it has approved Merck
and Co.'s drug alendronate sodium (Fosamax) for treating steroid-induced
osteoporosis.
Fosamax is already sold in the United States for the treatment and prevention of
osteoporosis in postmenopausal women and for treating Paget's disease. A Merck
spokeswoman said that the new indication makes Fosamax the only drug approved
for treating bone loss in women and men
who take steroids for months at a time to fight diseases such as rheumatoid
arthritis and chronic bowel disease.

About 1.5 million people take steroids for more than 6 months to treat chronic
conditions, thereby exposing themselves to potentially serious bone loss.
According to Merck, patients undergoing steroid therapy can
lose between 5% and 15% of their bone mass during the first year of therapy, and
up to half of them can suffer an osteoporosis-related
fracture.

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